Western Civilization I / Unit 13 WC1 1208 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Venice: Doge, Ducat, Spices, Banks, and the First Ambassadors
Captions available
The idea
Venice was a merchant council under an elected Doge, coining more gold than England and France together. It carried the anchor's forty percent of spice ships about thirteen hundred and sixty by fifteen hundred, ran the first true banks, and posted the first resident ambassadors.
In practice
The ducat never changed weight.
Where people slip
The rotten-meat spice myth is false, the anchor says.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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